More Baby!

Here are some more pictures of nephew #2 for all of the others who can't see him in person. They say he looks like dad.

Baby Ammon

Here is our new nephew. He was 2 weeks early and still weighed 8 lbs 1 oz. and look at that hair! He was not very obedient when Auntie Em and Uncle Spencer were down for Thanksgiving. We tried everything to make him come; poking mom's tummy, talking walks, crazy after Thanksgiving shopping and even jumping on the tramp. Oh well, we are glad that he is here. He is precious.

My Pirate

On Friday night every time Spencer would hear trick-or-treaters he would run to the door open it quickly and say arrrrr! He really scared some of the kids but they all knew he was Jack Sparrow. I was impressed. I just laughed as I made cookies.  

Hobbies

Spencer has been telling me for awhile now that I need a hobby.  My response has always been "Hobbies are expensive".  Now that we have a house I have found some practical hobbies... kind of.  Thanks to Elder Uchtdorf's talk in the General Relief Society meeting a few weeks ago I have decided maybe it is time I develop my creative talent I have been told I have.  So here is my start.

First I broke out the sewing machine that I have had in storage for a couple of years.  Then went shopping at the Cotton Shop and googled a patter and here you have it.  

Brand new old pillow!

In celebration of Halloween I decided to copy my talented Aunt Rebecca an make some spooky sugar cookies.  I have always liked to decorate sugar cookies but this is not betty crocker.  I know that coloring is off but that just means I will have to try it again.  I think this hobby might cause another hobby.  Working Out!

Here is the sign I have been in the process of making for a couple of weeks now. I love this saying. I can't decide if it needs any more sanding?

Family Pictures

Our talented friend Andee took our family pictures for us a couple of weeks ago. Here our some of our favorites. Here is her photo blog if you want to contact her to take some pictures. Andee blog Thanks Andee we love them!

Cosenza, Italy

Back to Italy...From this point on we will be exploring cities from Spencer's mission. Spencer served in the Catania, Italy mission. This area includes the southern part of Italy and Sicily. Spencer had the blessing to serve a few months in his Great-great Grandparent's home province of Cosenza.

After a beautiful train ride from Rome we arrived in Cosenza. When we got off of the train we where the only one's in the station. This was a big difference compared to the busy cities in the north. Very few Italian's in the south know English. Without Spencer's language skills we would not have been able to do the rest of our trip.





Today was laundry day so we had decided to stay in the Holiday Inn because of the laundry service. I of all people should have known what laundry service was. After running around panicked for about an hour we found out the closest laundry mat was an hour away by bus. So, we decided to do laundry the old fashioned way.



In light of the situation we were grateful that we had an Americanized bathroom. Complete with tub, sink and towel holders. None of our other rooms before or after would have allowed us to do our laundry from a week of travel. Later that evening we went on a passegiata (this is the Italian's nightly stroll). The Italian's walk up and down the town squares. It is like cruising State on foot. During the passegiata the Italian's meet and great each other. One of the things I love most about the Italian culture is that they are so friendly. On our walk Spencer showed us around like he was a local.



Here we are in front of Spencer's old apartment.

We meet some members that Spencer knew and worked with. They are such amazing people and are pioneering the way in Italy for great things




This is Spencer's Great-great Grandfather's last name Parise.



This is a cinquecento. It means 500. This car is so tiny.

TEMPLE IN ROME!!!

Yes! Spencer yelled for joy when we heard the news on Saturday. It is hard to believe but we are so excited for the members in the area that will benifit from this great blessing. We would love to go to the dedication. Here is the story: Rome Temple

New House!

Well, we are moved into our first home. We have been here for 9 days. Our neighbors and our ward have made us feel right at home. We have been very humbled by their kindness and friendship. They have brought over cookies, cake, bread and garden vegetables. Here you go Mom...we'll write more later, right now we are going to take advantage of the beautiful weather before it turns too cold for walks.

Life in the real world

I am going to take a moment to let everyone know what it going on in the real world. Spencer and I after many prayers, fasting and temple attendance feel like we should stay in Utah and not move to Arizona. Spencer is going to attend the University of Phoenix to get his masters degree. So after 3 years of being married we decided it was time to find a house. We started looking August 1st and found a beautiful house in Sandy on August 2nd that we really liked. We liked it so much that we made an offer and will be closing on our first home August 27th. We'll be moving the following weekend. Since our anniversary is today we decided that this was a great present. Yes, it has been fast but we feel so blessed to find a home that we can start our family in and have room to grow. Some of our favorite things about this house is that it is in a quiet neighborhood, has a garage (no shoveling snow off our cars!!) and it is basically new. We hope all of you will be able to visit our new home soon. There is even a guest room and private bathroom for out of town guests. So come soon! In the mean time here are some pictures.

Roma Day 2

Day 2 in Rome
Today we went to the Vatican. This country is the smallest country in the world and is the capital of the Catholic church. As you can see from these pictures this church is very pretty. All of the artwork in the building is mosaics. This church is the biggest one in the world. We only spent about 2 hours here. We decided that we did not what to see the Vatican museum which meant not seeing the Sictian chapel. So on our next trip we will fork over the money and see it.





Next we went the the Spanish steps. We only spent a couple of minutes got some picture and we where off to the Trevi Fountains. But on our way Spencer saw a ton of Italians at a gelateria (which means it must be good) so we stopped. The fountains were our favorite stop today. Even thought it was really crowed we enjoyed sitting and relaxing. By the time the end of the day came we were more then ready to make our way down to Cosenza (great-great grandparents home town). The crowds in the north were tiring and we were ready to see the real Italy.

Roma

Sorry that this is so late. We gave talks in church this week so extra time was hard to find.

On day five after another 3 hour train ride we made it to Rome. Day 5 was Sunday and we wanted to go to church today but scheduling would not permit. So, we thought we would go to the Vatican City. We we got to our hotel our hotelier told us that was a bad idea Sunday afternoons are really busy (Mass is at 5 or 6). So we opted to go and see Rome. Our first stop the Colosseum. We look the subway there and everywhere else.

Spencer was a great guide (and Rick Steves. All day I had my face in his book.)


I think the kids are bored. What do you think?



and the Colosseum is just right there. See...



The Colosseum was amazing. We spent alot of time here just looking at the architecture. This was one of my favorite places.




Next we were off to see Capital Hill. This was Rome's main square. I should have Spencer take a picture of this but in the ruins there was clay pipe plumbing in the walls. Amazing. There is so much history in this square. We didn't really take the time that I wanted but there is always next time. Here are some pictures of this area.





Next the Parthenon. We had a little rain today so there is water in the middle of the floor since the only light is the hold in the ceiling.




Well this is the end of Day 1 in Rome. I will do Day 2 in the morning.

The Birth Place of the Renaissance...

Florence. After another 3 hour train ride we arrived in Florence. Our first stop of the day was McDonald's :( for lunch as we only had an afternoon left in Florence. We checked into our hotel and then it was off to the Accademia. Here we saw the David by Michelangelo. We also saw Michelangelo's unfinished works. It was really amazing to see the work in the stones that he made. Sorry no pictures were aloud in the Accademia but a replica of the David is shown below. After the Accademia it was off to see the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. This bridge has shops on it like the one in Venice. However, the only stores on it were jewelry shops.





Next the Duomo (church). These pictures do not do this building justice. It was huge. Spencer and I decided to climb Brunelleschi's dome. Each section of this dome is self supporting and is a "dome with in a dome" (that is why we could climb it). It has 653 steps one way but the view was well worth the burn. Here are some pictures on the way up and the view from the top. You can see how close we are to the mural in the dome.








Our stop in Florence was short but well worth it. Next stop Roma!